OKLAHOMA CITY – New Orleans traded starting shooting guard Buddy Hield in its multi-player deal with Sacramento last week, forcing the Pelicans to replace him in the first unit with E’Twaun Moore on Thursday vs. Houston. They didn’t have that option Saturday, however, because Moore missed the Dallas game for personal reasons, attending the funeral of a family member.
The 6-foot-4 Moore will be back in uniform Sunday for New Orleans (23-36), but it was uncertain during pregame at Chesapeake Energy Arena whether he will start against the Thunder. In Saturday’s defeat to the Mavericks, newcomer Hollis Thompson was given the starting nod, in only his second game for New Orleans.
“He’s back and he’s that solid guy, gives us an extra ballhandler and can do some things on the floor,” Gentry said of Moore. “So it will be good to have him back in the mix.
“We’re contemplating (whether he will start). He’s played extremely well off the bench. We’ll look at the rotations and see what works best for our team.”
Moore also brings a much-needed additional perimeter threat, after the Pelicans struggled mightily from three-point range in two games since the All-Star break. New Orleans was just 6/31 against the Rockets from distance, followed by 5/23 vs. the Mavericks. Those represent two of the worst games of 2016-17 for the Pelicans, despite getting many open looks as a result of double-teams on DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis.
Other notes from pregame:
Thunder Coach Billy Donovan on his team defending against the Pelicans: “They were a challenge to guard before Cousins got there. They are one of the faster-paced tempo teams and take a lot of threes in transition. They’ve got an elite offensive player in Anthony Davis who plays multiple positions and can score in a variety of ways. (Jrue) Holiday in pick-and-rolls has been very good for them, and now you add Cousins, a premier low-post offensive player, and a guy who steps away and shoots threes. So it’s created for them a deep low-post option. This gives them two incredible frontcourt players who can score. They pose a lot of challenges on the backboard and transition, in terms of getting back from the low post offensively. There is a lot to guard with them.” …
Donovan said Oklahoma City guard Victor Oladipo (back spasms) is a game-time decision.